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Free Press Advocate

Wilmington Township completed its purchase of the former city police station last week, and for the first time in 169 years, it has a town hall that it owns.
The new township administration center, at 120 N. Main St., was originally the Wilmington post office, constructed and dedicated in 1957. The post office moved to its current location on North Water Street in late 1979.

It’s all about timing, and this year, the time is right for the Catfish Days in Lincoln Land parade’s grand marshal to share the distinction with an honorable grand marshal.
Illinois is celebrating its bicentennial, and what figure could be more notable a representative of a great state than the president from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln? Honest Abe was responsible for founding the national cemetery system, and the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, serving millions of veterans in the Chicago area, was named for him.

After public comment pointing out the flaws of a proposed ordinance regulating food trucks, the Wilmington City Council sent the measure it planned to approve back to committee for a redraft.
Members of the council’s License and Ordinance Committee held an initial discussion on the ordinance on July 10. The committee forwarded the ordinance to the council with a recommendation for approval on July 17, waiving the first and second reading that are part of the city’s approval process.

What will be most difficult about the city’s new food truck and trailer regulation is figuring out the few vendors to whom it applies.
The council’s License and Ordinance Committee held an initial discussion on the ordinance last week, and the council was expected to approve it, minus the first and second reading outlined in its ordinance approval process, on Tuesday.

The countdown to Catfish Days 2018, celebrating Illinois’ 200th birthday and featuring a special appearance by President Abraham Lincoln, is in the single digits. The community celebration runs Thursday, July 26 to Sunday, July 29. This year also marks the 20th anniversary of the “new” Catfish Days.
The lineup arranged by the Catfish Days Committee includes local favorites, such as Skinner’s Bike and Pet Parade, and performances by Circus Boy Bobby Hunt, the Rope Warrior, magician Jim Brown and the WHS Spiritline.

Life could get brighter in what is arguably the city’s darkest subdivision, if city officials find a way to install street lights. They agree the subdivision needs street lights, but say the residents might have to chip in for their installation.

The Wilmington City Council gave its support of a federal initiative to make Route 66 a National Historic Trail, a designation that could ensure permanent federal funding for preservation efforts along the Mother Road.

Wilmington’s 24-7 library service grew by a half million items this week, including e-books, audiobooks, movies, music — even graphic novels — with the addition of Hoopla to its e-media services lineup.
Hoopla Digital was expected to go live on the Wilmington Public Library District website, www.wilmingtonlibrary.org, on Wednesday, July 11. It’s a web and mobile platform that provides a wide range of digital content, and allows library patrons to download or stream free of charge using their library cards.

The “unveiling” was held in March, according to State Rep. LaShawn Ford, with the installation of a handful of signs denoting Interstate 55’s new designation as the Barack Obama Presidential Expressway.

The body of a man who drowned in the Des Plaines River near Wilmington Sunday was recovered Tuesday morning, about one mile from where he was last seen.
He has been identified as Baldur Kirsch, 47, of Minooka.
The Channahon Fire Protection District responded Sunday, July 8, at 6:52 p.m. to a report of a male who jumped off a recreational boat into the Des Plaines River, about one-half mile west of Harborside Marina, and never surfaced.